Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Heritage Center — Attraction in City of Niagara Falls

Aeropuerto tambien.

The border patrol agent explained to the man with the Latin looks why he had been singled out at the train station. He spoke Spanish, had diplomatic manners and didn't wear Kevlar or battle gear. Unlike the agent I saw on the train a few weeks ago in Buffalo.

His novia, un mujeur, didn't seem obviously Latina, as if that were a thing I should be detecting.

The couple listened politely as the agent explained, a woman border patrol agent taking notes on a clipboarded pad.

Am Amtrak conductor observed the exchange, four people having an encounter in a train station where a train from Canada, the Maple Leaf, allowed boarding.

The Amtrak conductor suggested I board although, "I didn't have to right away".

I took a mental picture because I was too cowardly to start a Facebook Live.

I want to cross back into the United States without a hitch, like I crossed last night at the Rainbow Bridge.

I handed over my passport last night and the agent and I talked about Johnny Roccos, a popular Italian restaurant on Lundy's Lane.

He loved Rocco's. Said so and gave back my passport.

I was quelled today.

I stood down today.

I should at least walked forward with my passport extended and said in a friendly voice, "Buenos Dias. Que Tal. Me Nombre as Guillermo".

Doesn't that name sound rather guerilla?

I had just taken pictures in the gift shop of the newly open museum of the Underground Railroad Museum.

Museums are not neutral said a bright red tee shirt.

Neither am I.

I side with allies because supporting bullies is unamerican.

Americans, almost all immigrants except for Native Americans who crossed on the Siberian land bridge eons ago, love the underdog.

The undocumented are clearly underdogs.

And Americans believe in solutions that pass the four way test of the Rotary.

Is the solution fair to all parties involved.

Yes, let's stay the hand of terrorism.

I remember a visit to a courthouse town in lower Minnesota, not far from the border with South Dakota twelve years ago.

I remember four wind turbines as I rolled into town after a long, fun night in Mitchell, South Dakota.

My mother had taken pictures of the Mitchell Corn Palace when she drive across country in a convertible in her years as a young woman, experiencing freedom years before Thelma and Louise.

So I had to see it myself.

I learned that the designs on the walls of the palace have always been woven by Sioux Indians.

We are still working, I hope, on America's relationship to our tribal citizens although I am worried about the bad medicine lately from our great chief in Washington.

If the corn palace cannot be held up as an exemplar of diversity at work, show me a better example.

Let's go back to that courthouse town in southwestern Minnesota.

I stopped at a store owned by immigrants from Mexico.

I noted that downtown had foot traffic at sundown, all pedestrians immigrants from Mexico.

All the rentals downtown looked filled with families, rooted in Mexico.

I guess the families had established themselves by helping bring in the harvest for the Jolly Green Giant, a tall laughing gringo who stands in the fields south of the Twin Cities laughing .....

You get it.

I wonder about downtown Worthington today.

Has the downtown become a ghost town due to deportations?

What has happened to Shelby, Michigan, a town that also supports a migrant population, this population bringing in the asparagus harvest for Oceana county farmers.

Has this town been cleaned out too?

We need Worthington and Shelby to be strong.

And we need to learn how to create American citizens again, often working with those who have managed to find a...

Not to be missed experience to the Underground Railroad in Niagara Falls, NY. Tucked inside the newly restored Customhouse museum, a tiny space is transformed into a true to life journey on the pathway to freedom.

Guests retrace the final footsteps to freedom as they walk across a simulated span of the Suspension Bridge that carried Harriet Tubman and others over the Niagara River to Canadian soil. Another room depicts the Cataract House Hotel, through artifacts and state of the art video imagery, in a multi dimensional rendering of an active underground station and it's heroic operators. In a third space the legacy of the Underground Railroad is carried into the present, through the video diaries of local citizens fighting for modern-day freedoms. And there is much, much more!

Throughout the exhibit I felt as if I was witness to actual moments in history. Stunning soundscapes and moving imagery meet the viewer at every turn. One can move slowly through the rooms or experience it all within a few minutes depending on the time you have. Perfect for school groups, heritage tours, history lovers or those waiting for their Amtrak train to arrive in the station upstairs. Bravo to the City of Niagara Falls and the history community that made this...

I took a group of students there on a field trip. We had a problem with the bus company so I called telling a staff member we would be arriving late. They told me no problem… which I assumed meant that when we got there 45 minutes late we would still be provided a guided tour. I know they have a late policy, but I did call letting them know I would be late. When we got there the one women was very abrupt with me and gave a super quick talk and my students had to do a self guided tour… which the museum is so small we were in and out in 15 minutes. 8th graders do not take their time to stop and read. We were the only people in the museum too, so I would understand if it was super busy and there were other groups coming in. Maybe there was another group coming? If so communicate that with me and my students and we wouldn’t be so disappointed. I’m so upset because my students were really looking forward to going to the museum. The museum’s late policy is so rigid and who is hurt in the end? The students. It is a missed opportunity for my students to learn about the rich history of freedom seekers in our community. Isn’t that the whole point...